It`s A Wonderful Christmas Eve Movie

December 24, 1985|By Bill Kelley, Staff writer

When James Stewart returned from World War II service, he had no intention of resuming his movie career. Then director Frank Capra handed him the script to It`s a Wonderful Life, and Stewart relented. This sentimental 1946 parable of small-town America casts Stewart as a kindly merchant, victimized by the town skinflint (Lionel Barrymore); he is stopped at the brink of suicide by an angel (Henry Travers), who reviews Stewart`s past life and shows him the good he has done. Although the movie, Capra and Stewart were nominated for Oscars, none of them won (The Best Years of Our Lives was the big winner); it wasn`t even a box office success. Its reputation is based chiefly on the following it has developed through years of holiday TV showings. Donna Reed and Gloria Grahame co-star. The film airs at 8 p.m. on both WCIX-Ch. 6 and WFLX-Ch. 29.